Iranian paper blames Israel for unrest

An Iranian newspaper published a report Sunday accusing Britain, the US, and Israel
of instigating the deadly riots that gripped the country after its controversial elections. Israel's part in the riots was not described.

Kayhan news, the editor of which was appointed by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reported that British diplomats were in "constant contact" with the camp of defeated reformist leader Mir-Hussein Mousavi.

The report was published just one day after a local employee of the British Embassy in Iran was accused of espionage, the most recent charge in a series of public trials held by the Islamic Republic.

The employee, Hossein Rassam, served as the embassy's political analyst. He appeared at a court hearing on Saturday along with language teacher Clotilde Reiss, who was arrested at Tehran airport in July on charges of espionage.

Another conservative paper, the Tehran Amrose, accused Britain, France, and Germany on Saturday of supporting a "silent revolution" against the Iranian regime.

The report said reformists had been using the internet sites Facebook and Twitter to spread news, videos, and photos of the riots to the world.

British Foreign Minister David Miliband condemned proceedings against the embassy employee. "I am deeply concerned by the unjustified charges today laid against Hossein Rassam," he said.

"Hossein is a member of our embassy staff going about his legitimate duties. Iranian action against him, and those against Clotilde Reiss and a member of the staff of the French embassy in Tehran only brings further discredit on the Iranian regime," Miliband added.